Fusing data from multiple inexpensive global positioning system and an electronic compass to increase heading accuracy in real time

We present in this paper the fusing of data from multiple inexpensive global positioning system (GPS) receivers and an electronic compass through an ad-hoc weighing method to improve their individual heading accuracy in a real time system. The individual GPS “fix” and “HDOP” (horizontal dilution of precision) values are evaluated to determine the proper weights to be applied to their respective COG (course over ground) values. The resulting fused GPS heading and weight is then fused with the electronic compass for the final fused heading value. The ad-hoc fusion was developed in LabVIEW and field tests were done to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method.